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The most remarkable aspect of Aashiq Surrender Hua is that composer Amaal Mallik seems to have finally gotten over the Sooraj Dooba Hai jinx when it comes to dance songs. Not saying that this sounds fresh either. The folk percussion dominated arrangement is very much of the tried and tested variety, but it is engaging. Mallik himself delivers the male vocals in sprightly fashion, alongside an equally lively Shreya Ghoshal. The familiarity in sound is a lot more prominent in Mallik’s second song, the mellow melodic piece called Roke Na Ruke Naina. There is some nice work on the arrangement front, especially in that first interlude with the flute and guzheng (Tapas Roy). However, those are only a mild respite from the overwhelming déjà vu, and Arijit Singh’s rendition only helps aggravate it. Frontman of Delhi based sufi rock band Nasha, Akhil Sachdeva, does his composing debut with Humsafar. Once again nothing new in offer here by way of melody or arrangement, but it could still have made for an okayish listen if not for the composer’s own awkward vocals.

After that promising debut with Vayu Srivastava in Tanu Weds Manu Returns in 2015 (Banno), Tanishk Bagchi this year seems to be running a serious risk of being stuck with remixes. While it was Humma Humma in OK Jaanu, the young composer gets to adapt two songs here, both of which were in turn adapted from other sources, interestingly. To be fair, in Badri Ki Dulhania there is a sizeable contribution from Bagchi; it is only the main hook that the song borrows from Shankar Jaikishan’s Chalat Musafir from Teesri Kasam (which itself was a folk tune adaptation). And it is an entertaining remake too, well delivered by Dev Negi, Neha Kakkar, Monali Thakur and Ikka. Bagchi’s second offering is Tamma Tamma Again, a revamp of Bappi Lahiri’s hit 1990 song which was inspired of Mory Kante’s Tama Tama (I personally prefer Laxmikant Pyarelal’s Jumma Chumma sourced off the same piece). Some nice touches on the remix here, like the retention of the original vocals by Bappi Lahiri and Anuradha Paudwal, and the sampling of Ameen Sayani’s voice. What does not help the song’s case one bit is Badshah’s rapping.

And the Dulhania franchise continues to disappoint with its music, in fact this soundtrack rates even lower than the first one! This is also the weakest Dharma movie soundtrack in a very long time.